United States economic outlook: quarterly developments

Capital market development in the Caribbean within the context of the CARICOM single market and economy (CSME)

Trade in services in Latin America and the Caribbean: an analysis of recent trends

This paper compares the dynamism of the Latin American and Caribbean region's services trade with that of Asia, evaluates the determinants of these trade flows, and proposes measures for improving the region's performance. The focus of this study is on other services , which includes all services except transport and travel services (mainly tourism). Other services include many modern service inputs (including communications, financial and information technology services and business services), that play an increasingly vital role in determining many businesses&…

Millennium development goals. 2006 report: a look at gender equality and empowerment of women in Latin America and the Caribbean

This report is the outcome of a joint effort by the specialized agencies of the United Nations system in Latin America and the Caribbean that began in 2005 with the regional report entitled The Millennium Development Goals: A Latin American and Caribbean Perspective (United Nations, 2005). All the agencies participated in its preparation, in particular UNIFEM, PAHO, UNFPA and ECLAC, the lastmentioned as coordinating agency. On the basis of the most recent data available at the time of preparation, the report focuses attention on the progress made in meeting Goal 3, (Promote gender equali…

Observatorio Demográfico de América Latina y el Caribe 2007: Mortalidad = Demographic Observatory of Latin America and the Caribbean 2007: Mortality

El contenido de este Observatorio ha sido actualizado por el Observatorio Demográfico No. 9, el cual encontrará en Enlaces relacionadosEn este número del Observatorio demográfico se presenta un conjunto de tablas abreviadas de mortalidad por sexo, estimadas y proyectadas por quinquenios, que fueron elaboradas como insumos para las estimaciones y proyecciones de la población nacionales, desglosadas por sexo y grupos quinquenales de edad, de los 20 países de América Latina, para el período 1980-2020.Las cifras de esta publicación constituyen una revisión de las presentadas en el Boletín demográf…

Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean 2007

During much of 2007, the Latin American and Caribbean region witnessed a great deal of volatility in financial markets owing to uncertainty about the impact that the financial crisis in the United States could have on that country’s and the world’s real economies. This crisis has not, however, had any significant repercussions in terms of the level of economic activity or international trade, and most of the economies in the region have continued to grow rapidly. This growth —estimated at 5.6% for the region as a whole— has been driven primarily by domestic demand, with particularly sharp incr…

The macroeconomics of the Latin American economic boom

This paper argues that the recent boom in the Latin Americaneconomies can be explained by the conjunction of two external factorsnot found together since the 1970s: strong commodity prices (more sofor hydrocarbons and mining products than for agricultural commodities);and exceptional external financing conditions. Concerning the latter, thekey development was the massive influx of capital during two periods of exuberance in international financial markets (between mid-2004 and April2006, and between mid-2006 and mid-2007);, particularly the second. It alsoargues for the importance …

CEPAL Review no. 93

Equilibrium real exchange rates, misalignment and competitiveness in the Southern Cone

To examine the evolution of competitiveness in the production of traded goods in a particular country, it is necessary not just to disentangle actual from sustained equilibrium real exchange rate (SERER); movements, but also to determine the extent to which movements in SERERs have been driven by changes in sectoral productivity performance or by other factors. This paper presents an analysis of the evolution of the competitiveness in the traded goods sectors in six Latin American countries that takes into account both of these issues. It finds that the competitiveness of the nontraditional …

Korean OFDI: investment strategies and corporate motivations for investing abroad

International flows of capital in the form of foreign direct investment have become an important means of promoting economic development in many countries. The spread of globalization and the activity of transnational corporations have been driving forces behind these flows have already been adequately analyzed. An important new phenomenon of recent decades is the rapid increase in the outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) flows from developing countries. Much less attention has been paid to outward investment by developing countries, mainly because it was negligible until recently.OFDI fro…

Draft programme of work on the dissemination of the European statistics code of practice in Latin America and the Caribbean

Ageing and development in a society for all ages

IntroductionThis document was prepared by the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE); - Population Division of ECLAC, in pursuance of ECLAC resolution 616(XXXI); of 2006 requesting preparation of the relevant substantive documentation for the second Regional Intergovernmental Conference on Ageing (Brasilia, Brazil, 4 to 6 December 2007);. Its purpose is to present and analyse the information available on the demographic ageing process, the situation of the older adult population and the progress made by the countries in applying the Regional Strategy for the Implementation in…

Revisiting privatization, foreign investment, international arbitration, and water

A subject relevant to the governance of water resources and public services is the effect that international trade and investment agreements may have on national capacities to manage natural resources and to regulate public services. As a consequence of globalization, many public services are provided and water rights held by companies within foreign investment protection systems or special conflict resolution regimes, which means that external jurisdictions can intervene in local matters. These agreements, which override national laws, restrict the power of governments to act in the public in…

Migration data collection, management, sharing in the Caribbean

This paper is to assist governments and other concerned parties in the subregion to identify, at the national and regional levels, already existing mechanisms for migration data collection, management and sharing and to provide guidance on how to identify and bridge the still existing information gaps on migration data in the subregion…

Capital flows to Latin America: quarterly developments

Concerns about the ongoing U.S crisis in the housing sector and the asset exposures to subprime mortgages dominated financial markets in the second and third quarters of 2007. Volatility spiked in July and August, with losses in the subprime mortgage sector spreading to other risky assets. The volatility radiating from the United States is changing the global backdrop for emerging markets. This change comes after several years when the combination of improvement in country macroeconomic policies and strong risk appetites led to strong flows of new money to the emerging markets asset classes. …

Status of agrifood regulatory coordination under the North American Free Trade Agreement

Since its initiation on January 1, 1994, the agriculture section of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has been controversial, which has led to several trade disputes, suggestions for modification and strengthening, and even Presidential initiatives such as the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP). While NAFTA has done much to spur economic growth and development, it has not realized its potential in integrating agrifood markets. Several illustrations are summarized in this report on progress in overcoming sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) barriers to trade un…

Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2006-2007

ECLAC has been publishing the Economic Survey for 59 years now. The first edition of this report was drawn up under the Executive Secretary's supervision at the behest of the Commission, which requested that an economic survey of Latin America be prepared. That document was the new Economic Commission's first contribution to an understanding of the region's development process. The Survey thus embodies the Commission's fulfilment of one of the specific purposes for which it was created by undertaking or sponsoring the collection, evaluation and dissemination of ... economic…

Latin America and the Caribbean in the World Economy 2006: 2007 trends

This year’s edition of Latin America and the Caribbean in the World Economy is divided into six chapters. Chapter I contains an analysis of recent trends in the economies of the United States, the European Union and Japan as well as a number of emerging Asian economies. The determinants of the imbalances existing among these economies are examined, and the role of these disequilibria as the principal risk factor in what nonetheless remains a positive global environment is considered. Factors influencing the trade performance of Latin America and the Caribbean are discussed, as are the region’s…

Economic survey of the Caribbean, 2006-2007

This survey provides an overview of the macroeconomic performance of countries of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC) for the year 2006 and their outlook for 2007. The report consists of three chapters. The first one provides a regional analysis of the main economic indicators from a comparative perspective. The second chapter deals with two selected topics of particular relevance for the economic development of Caribbean countries, namely remittances and migration, and natural resources dependency. The last chapter presents country briefs with the main macroeconomic dev…

Trade liberalisation, trade performance and competitiveness in the Caribbean

This study provides an analysis of links between trade liberalisation, trade performance and competitiveness in the Caribbean. The study takes an eclectic approach, borrowing from different strands of theory and empirical findings, where necessary. Nevertheless from a broad conceptual frame of reference, an effort is made to analyse the structural, institutional and market (demand and supply); factors that impinge on trade performance and competitiveness outcomes in the region. This approach, it is believed, provides the most relevance for analysing the real world situation in the Caribbean,…